REGINA – Swift Current Broncos coach-GM Manny Viveiros has listed top-line winger Tyler Steenbergen as a game-time decision for Monday’s Memorial Cup matchup against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Regardless of whether Steenbergen plays, Viveiros is counting on a better effort from his group after a 4-3 overtime loss to Acadie-Bathurst on Saturday.
He’s looking for one player in particular to lead the way. It’s someone who’s done it all season – Calgary Flames prospect and over-age captain Glenn Gawdin.
“Glenn wasn’t happy with his play. He didn’t even have to discuss it,” Viveiros said. “He knows he can be at another level. That’s something we expect out of him.”
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The Broncos were without Steenbergen from the five-minute mark of the second period after he was hit awkwardly by Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel.
Gawdin failed to produce a point in the contest without his star running mate as the Broncos fell to 0-1 in the tournament. He was stopped by Evan Fitzpatrick on breakaway early in the third, which – if converted – would have put the Broncos up by two.
Making matters worse, Gawdin was on the ice for all four goals against.
“You can pick it apart,” he said. “I just felt I wasn’t ready to play in the sense that I wasn’t playing my game and the way I’m capable of.
“I have to find a way to bounce back.”
It was a rare off night for the WHL playoff MVP, who produced 32 points in 24 games from late March to early May.
Gawdin was held off the scoresheet only six times during the regular season and four times during the playoffs. He was stymied in back-to-back games just twice all year – including the first two games of the of Swift Current’s first-round series against Regina.
The rest of the time, he was money in the bank.
“Being in the finals, and my last year, I just wanted to make the most of it and show up every night,” the six-foot-one, 186-pound centreman said. “I didn’t want the season to end.”
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It was all part of a 56-goal, 125-point campaign that earned him MVP consideration. Everett Silvertips goaltender Carter Hart won the award, and Moose Jaw Warriors Jayden Halbgewachs earned the Eastern Conference nomination after scoring 70 goals.
But there’s no doubt what the Broncos think about their captain.
“He’s the best player in our league,” Steenbergen said in a pre-tournament interview. “I personally believe he probably deserved MVP. But he got playoff MVP and that’s all that matters. He’s been the workhorse. He’s what drives our bus.”
Viveiros sums it up this way: “He’s our guy.”
Drafted in the first round of the 2012 WHL bantam draft (fifth overall), Gawdin said the organization “moulded me as a person and as a player.”
It took awhile for that moulding to set.
Gawdin was selected in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues, but then saw his production flatline amid injuries. Although he was a point-per-game player in consecutive seasons with 53 and 59 points, the Blues opted not to sign him.
“Not being signed by St. Louis affected me in both ways,” Gawdin said. “It was disappointing, but I knew coming back for my 20-year-old year if I had a good start or a good season, you never know what would happen. I just tried to use that as motivation.
“I came back with a chip on my shoulder [to] prove them wrong and prove other people wrong as well.”
The good news for Gawdin is the Flames had him on their radar. He was invited to their development camp in July and their main camp in September.
That good start he was hoping for came to fruition. The Flames signed him on Nov. 16 after he produced 40 points in 18 games.
“Just to get that contract and to be with a team that wants you, I think that’s everyone’s goal that’s playing right now,” Gawdin said. “It was just another step in the direction I’m trying to go.”
Gawdin’s production this season came while anchoring the league’s top line with Steenbergen and Finnish playmaker Aleksi Heponiemi.
Over-ager Matteo Gennaro is a candidate to replace Steenbergen, if he’s unable to play.
“It has an effect on us, but we’re just not gonna let that get us down,” said Heponiemi, who led the WHL with 90 assists this season, regarding a Steenbergen scratch. “We’re just gonna have to have some guys step up.”
That means he and Gawdin.
Gawdin proved he can managed without his linemates this season, though. He recorded 22 points during a 14-game stretch in December and January when at least one of Steenbergen and Heponiemi were at the world juniors.
So, whether Steenbergen – Canada’s golden goal scorer – can play, Viveiros expects Gawdin to redeem himself on Monday after a subpar performance, just as he usually does.
And Gawdin expects nothing less of himself.
“I’m the leader. I definitely put that pressure on,” Gawdin said. “If he’s in the lineup or not, I try to put that pressure on myself. Especially since he’s out, that puts a little more.”